The Apparatus - Pallida Mors

You are here: Home

Pallida Mors - Pallida Mors

Thursday, 31 January 2008

Editor's rating

6.8

out of 10

Reviewed by:
Chad Coup
#1 Reviewer
View all my reviews
Thursday, 31 January 2008
Average user rating: 0.0
0 User reviews

View details
Read editor review
Read user reviews
Write review

Music Information

Track Listing:
01. The Number Six
02. Elevator Music
03. Lightheaded
04. A2Z
05. Adrenocrome

Artist: Pallida Mors
Title: Pallida Mors
Genre: Hardcore • Death Metal
Release Date: 12 June 2007
Record Label: 187 Records
Format: EP
Country: United States of America
Official Store
Myspace Profile
Last.fm Profile
Purevolume Profile

Bookmark & Share

Free social bookmarking plugins and extensions for Joomla! websites! title=

Editor review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful


Overall rating (weighted)		6.8
Musicianship		7.0
Composition		6.0
Experimentation		7.0
Production		7.0
Value		7.0

This is a very short EP from Chula Vista, CA's Pallida Mors has some good things going for it, yet leaves room for more. The band plays metal/hardcore with a decidedly death metal edge. It's not groundbreaking material, but it is good for a spin or three if you want something new to listen to. Fans of All Shall Perish or even JFAC will dig into something here.

The first thing I noticed when handling the promo was the striking cover art by Brandon Gallagher. It's some kind of zombie, but the purple tones lend themselves nicely to the overall contrast of the cover. It's fitting, because the band's name means "pale death" in Latin. The band's logo is rather generic and fills up at least 1/3rd of the frame, unfortunately.

The five tracks on this EP have a theme: technical, dissonant riffing surrounds each song's running time with breakdowns in the middle and intermittent blasting for good measure. I wish the band would commit one way or the other -- teasing me with a clear talent for playing technical music seems cheapened by the myriad of chugging. Vocals are rather inexpressive and two-dimensional; we get either guttural growling or high-pitched metalcore-esque shrieking. Either style doesn't vary much from the one note we are presented with.

Since there are only five songs at twelve minutes total, there isn't too much to write about. I really enjoy how the first track features a clever bass line. The guitars are very skilled in pulling some tricky scales and sustaining structure. The drums are rather tight and do their job well. There is one very bright spot on this record. "Adrenocrome," the final track, is the most rewarding of the set. It features the most interesting structure and technical prowess, only throwing in a chug-down near the end for balance.

When the band makes its full length, a feat most welcome, I wish for more tracks like this. The genre is already too full of bands that sound similar to Pallida Mors. It's obvious to me that this band has much more going for it than being in the middle ground in-between two different styles of music. I want this band to succeed in developing its own sound in the future.

Music Information

Promo

Was this review helpful to you? yes